When ElasmOcean became a partner of the Gasometer Oberhausen two years ago and preparations for the exhibition began, no one anticipated how successful this exhibition would become. Originally projected to run for nine and a half months, it has been extended by almost an entire year until the end of November 2025 due to its sustained public appeal.
In the 20 months since the official opening on 15 March 2024, some 1,520,000 people visited the Gasometer Oberhausen to view "Planet Ozean". This makes the exhibition the most successful exhibition in Germany in both 2024 and 2025. No other museum, travelling exhibition, or aquarium has achieved comparable visitor numbers.
An extraordinary 4,800 guided tours took place — including more than 500 led by our ElasmOcean speakers. Our shark-themed tours were particularly popular and consequently fully booked. Although we did not analyse all participant demographics, records show that all segments of the population participated in our tours: river cruise passengers, corporate groups, nurseries, schools, associations, social clubs, charity organisations, partner associations, politicians, television presenters, authors, and families with friends. We adapted our content accordingly for very young or elderly visitors, as well as for visually or hearing-impaired guests.
With very few exceptions, these sessions were highly rewarding. Our objective is to communicate the importance of the ocean and its diverse marine organisms to every individual, regardless of their background or prior knowledge. In the few instances where visitors expressed unorthodox views, we hope to have stimulated subsequent reflection.
We also recall our joint event with Hannes Jaenicke, an evening that drew a capacity audience to discuss marine conservation, with a particular focus on the octopuses featured in the current ZDF documentary.
The Gasometer administration also reported two further metrics: 45,000 catalogues sold and 290,000 coffees consumed — the latter likely due to the fact that the internal temperature of the Gasometer corresponds to the outdoor temperature, even during the colder months.
The major success of this exhibition demonstrates that keeping animals in captivity for public display is not required to convey the significance of the planet's largest habitat in an impactful manner: an intelligent and engaging concept is sufficient. Curator and managing director Jeanette Schmitz and her team have achieved an outstanding success with this project.
"Planet Ozean" has now concluded. Our exhibits have been dismantled and preserved. We are immensely proud and grateful to have participated in this exceptional project within one of Germany's largest exhibition venues, which stands at a height of 117 metres.
